deskthority

If there's something blue under the keycaps here, it's rubber cups, not ALPS sliders. Stay clear!

tron wrote:

Damonskv wrote: Someone from usa should pick it up https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 3089980710

The seller wrote back to me and said it has "blue switches". Does anyone know what they could be?

Keybug wrote: If there's something blue under the keycaps here, it's rubber cups, not ALPS sliders. Stay clear!

Agreed, this is what Hypersphere PM'd me last year about these:

Hypersphere wrote:Hi seebart!

These usually have SKCM brown Alps, but I bought one that had some sort of rubber dome switch. If you could get the seller to pull a cap ....

Good luck!

Best wishes,

Hypersphere

Keybug wrote: The seller wrote back to me and said it has "blue switches". Does anyone know what they could be?

NEVER believe in anything a seller says (types) the only real proof is that elusive IMAGE (picture).

Other then that, these sellers live in a deliberate state of subterfuge, worthy of any Politician .

Techno Trousers wrote: There are strange things afoot in the vintage keyboard arena. I wonder if some new cryptocurrency millionaires are starting to buy keyboards?

If I was a conspiracy theorist I'd think that someone is trying to artificially bump up the prices.
As we all know, all it takes for prices to skyrocket on eBay is a couple of outlier transactions. I'm sure all of you remember what happened with beamers.
And obviously, the supply is only going to dry up and the demand is only going to increase, at least in the short and medium term. So, the prices are likely to get stuck to the one of the inflated transactions.
Of course, this is not the case (I don't believe that thath and other beamspring keyboards will be sold for 1000€ from now on). But maybe this is the trick the seller is trying to pull off.

That reinforces my theory about the Videowriter timeline. The branded case means that there is a chance of not getting Brown Alps... Now watch my unbranded one arrive and be rubber domes, just to spite me.

ohaimark wrote: That reinforces my theory about the Videowriter timeline. The branded case means that there is a chance of not getting Brown Alps... Now watch my unbranded one arrive and be rubber domes, just to spite me.

Either way we'll find out sooner or later, I'm "crossing my fingers" for you kingpin.

DustGod wrote:

Techno Trousers wrote: There are strange things afoot in the vintage keyboard arena. I wonder if some new cryptocurrency millionaires are starting to buy keyboards?

If I was a conspiracy theorist I'd think that someone is trying to artificially bump up the prices.
As we all know, all it takes for prices to skyrocket on eBay is a couple of outlier transactions. I'm sure all of you remember what happened with beamers.
And obviously, the supply is only going to dry up and the demand is only going to increase, at least in the short and medium term. So, the prices are likely to get stuck to the one of the inflated transactions.
Of course, this is not the case (I don't believe that thath and other beamspring keyboards will be sold for 1000€ from now on). But maybe this is the trick the seller is trying to pull off.

Ebay itself has a major interest in these high prices which is why they offer their own price-guides for sellers.

seebart wrote:
Ebay itself has a major interest in these high prices which is why they offer their own price-guides for sellers.

I hate that "trending at" price. eBay, you're not supposed to be setting or influencing prices for an auction!

Techno Trousers wrote:

seebart wrote:
Ebay itself has a major interest in these high prices which is why they offer their own price-guides for sellers.

I hate that "trending at" price. eBay, you're not supposed to be setting or influencing prices for an auction!

Higher final sale = higher ebay fee = ebay profits

I still believe that Videowriter is Alps, despite what the seller says. I think there may be some confusion somewhere. The date code and Videowriter | Magnavox badge place it smack-dab in Alps territory. If it isn't Alps, it's a real outlier!

From what I've gathered, it's really not as random as you guys think. There appears to be a hard timeline for it. It was Alps for a while and then it wasn't Alps anymore.

Tuntematon wrote: I still believe that Videowriter is Alps, despite what the seller says. I think there may be some confusion somewhere. The date code and Videowriter | Magnavox badge place it smack-dab in Alps territory. If it isn't Alps, it's a real outlier!

From what I've gathered, it's really not as random as you guys think. There appears to be a hard timeline for it. It was Alps for a while and then it wasn't Alps anymore.

Last minute heads up. I asked him to remove the caps and look.

Tuntematon wrote: I still believe that Videowriter is Alps, despite what the seller says. I think there may be some confusion somewhere. The date code and Videowriter | Magnavox badge place it smack-dab in Alps territory. If it isn't Alps, it's a real outlier!

From what I've gathered, it's really not as random as you guys think. There appears to be a hard timeline for it. It was Alps for a while and then it wasn't Alps anymore.

I'm sorry, that's not really specific enough. We need more than one example of each in detail with pictures. We have seen the Alps version here more than once before, not the other one. Still, I believe and agree with you, but we don't have any details AFAIK.

It does have the blue font caps lock key - every alps 250 I've seen has had that. At least, it looks blue in the picture.

//gainsborough wrote: It does have the blue font caps lock key - every alps 250 I've seen has had that. At least, it looks blue in the picture.

That's a good start. Let's wait and see...

tron wrote:

Tuntematon wrote: I still believe that Videowriter is Alps, despite what the seller says. I think there may be some confusion somewhere. The date code and Videowriter | Magnavox badge place it smack-dab in Alps territory. If it isn't Alps, it's a real outlier!

From what I've gathered, it's really not as random as you guys think. There appears to be a hard timeline for it. It was Alps for a while and then it wasn't Alps anymore.

Last minute heads up. I asked him to remove the caps and look.

My guess would be that he removed one of the caps with Alps SKCL compact switches, in poor lighting, and at a glance it appeared blue

I'd say most of the time "normal" people with no mechanical keyboard knowledge don't know what their looking at anyway.

Anyone here win it? At $40 that's quite a get. Shipping adds a bit, but even so! Not a bad deal if it's browns!

seebart wrote: I'd say most of the time "normal" people with no mechanical keyboard knowledge don't know what their looking at anyway.

That's the truth. Getting keyboard info from sellers can be quite the struggle. Hopefully this particular example shows up here so we can confirm. I wasn't personally invested enough to hassle the seller further.

Tuntematon wrote:

seebart wrote: I'd say most of the time "normal" people with no mechanical keyboard knowledge don't know what their looking at anyway.

That's the truth. Getting keyboard info from sellers can be quite the struggle. Hopefully this particular example shows up here so we can confirm. I wasn't personally invested enough to hassle the seller further.

Exactly, even trying to explain how to pull a keycap can get difficult, I've had adventurous situations with sellers that thought I was some nut for even asking what's under the keycap. Response from the seller: "what's a keycap?"

I asked that seller to pull off an alpha key a week ago and he said it was blue, so it must be a dome. Unless he just didn't pull an alpha key.

seebart wrote: Exactly, even trying to explain how to pull a keycap can get difficult, I've had adventurous situations with sellers that thought I was some nut for even asking what's under the keycap. Response from the seller: "what's a keycap?"

Because normal people just call that part a key?!

My money is on this. Then you will suffer like I did!

Should have asked the seller if it was a circle or rectangle under the key. It's hard to mess that one up.

A decent looking Zenith with yellow Alps. I would get it myself if I didn't have one already.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Zenith ... 1438.l2649

Noice, that's a 163-73! It has the same layout as a zkb-2 but has a plastic back and doesn't have NKRO - though, its major plus is that it has thick PBT caps!

Keybug wrote: My money is on this. Then you will suffer like I did!

Haha I knew it,there we have it...Mitsumi KPQ Type with a blue buckling rubber sleeve.

What we really need to do is setup a wiki-page for this Videowriter, if people send me their pics I'll do that.

wiki/Mitsumi_KPQ_Type

Brett MacK wrote: A decent looking Zenith with yellow Alps. I would get it myself if I didn't have one already.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Zenith ... 1438.l2649

$110USD for that, you're joking right?

It's so old and dirty I've seen cleaner public toilets than that keyboard plus since it's using Alps switches, do expect some of them to be filled with dirt and grime.

Unless you're a full on masochist with delusional tendencies, then this Keyboard is a real bargain .

Elrick wrote: It's so old and dirty I've seen cleaner public toilets than that keyboard plus since it's using Alps switches, do expect some of them to be filled with dirt and grime.

The real problem is that it's impossible to tell what condition those (yellow?) Alps are in.

xxhellfirexx wrote:https://m.ebay.com/itm/SCARCE-VINTAGE-1 ... 2857072980

Extreme tactility!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/162857072980

It's "touch activated" alright...touch the monolith...

On the other hand you could probably drop a huge bowl of hot chilli on there + some soft drink and that monolith would still function. Hardcore monoblock.